Winding-up and operating mechanism for automatic playing devices for musical instruments



No. 6l6,077. Patented Dec. 20, I898. M. CLARK.

WINDING UP AND OPERATING MECHANISM FOR AUTOMATIC PLAYING DEVICES FOR IMUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

(Application filed Feb. 25, 1897.)

(No Model.)

3 Sheats-Sheet I.

No. 6l6,077. Patented Dec. 20, I898. M. CLARK.

wmnme UP AND OPERATING MECHANISM FOR AUTOMATIC PLAYING mam ms FunMUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

(Application filed Feb. 25, 1897.)

(No Model.)

2 21620537 (if w y Patented Dec. 20, I898. M. CLARK. WINDING UP ANDOPERATING MECHANISM FOR AUTOMATIC PLAYING DEVICES FOR MUSICALINSTRUMENTS.

M A m m e 7 E 3 I UU 0 w MC m m M 6 I T U L T D mfg 5 R w w MR M; LI. 3a n 3 U z s \\/Q 0 3 w u, E r z UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MELVILLE CLARK, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

WINDING-UP AND OPERATING MECHANISM FOR AUTOMATIC PLAYING DEVICES FORMUSICAL INSTRUMENTS SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0.616,077, dated December 20, 1898. Application filed February 25, 1897-Serial No. 625,051. (No model.)

' To a "whom, (it may concern/.-

Be it known that I, MELVILLE CLARK, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Winding-Up and OperatingMechanism for Automatic Ilaying Devices for Musical Instruments, whichare fully set forth in the following specification, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, forming a part thereof.

The purpose of this invention is to provide improved devices for windingup the motors which operate the perforated music-sheet or equivalentdevice in automatic playing attachments for musical instruments,particularly reed-organs or others having bellows operated by pedals.

It consists of mechanism connecting the winding-up devices with thebellows-operating mechanism and in specific features of construction inthis respect, which are set forth in the claims.

Inthe drawings, Figure 1 is a fore-and-aft section of an organ havingmyimprovements referred to. Fig. 2 is. asection at theline 2 2 onFig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detail front elevation, on an enlarged scale, of themechanism for operating the perforated sheet and the winding-upmechanism for the same, the stop connections to the governing mechanismbeing omitted. Fig. 4 is a section at the line a 4.- on Fig. 3. Fig.5 isa detail section of the frame in which the operating-train is mounted,section being made at the plane indicated by the line 5 5 on Figs. 3 and4:, the view showing, however, only parts of the mechanism which relateto the governing and revers ing action. Fig. 6 is a detail plan of ajoint in the levers which connect the pedals with the winding-upmechanism. Fig. 7 is a section at the line '7 7 on Fig. 6. Fig. 8 is anaxial section of a friction driving connection in the train ofconnections from the pedals to the winding-up shaft. Fig. 9 is aninterior view of one of the clutches in said train of connections, thesame being shown with one side plate removed, the shaft and securingbolts being in section at the plane of the surface of the shell shown.

A represents the case of an organ, having a pimping-bellows B B,operated by pedals B B, which are connected by customary straps B B withthe fluctuating sides of the bellows, respectively. At a suitableposition in the organ-face there is properly secured mechanism forwinding and rewinding a perforat ed music-strip, by which the organ isautomatically played. The supportingframe for said mechanism and therolls on which the perforated sheet is wound are shown at C C C C. Inthis mechanism, D is the roll onto which the sheet is wound in playing,and D the roll from which it is unwound in playing and onto which it isrewound for removal or repeating. The roll D is for convenience termedthe winding-roll, and D the rewinding,-roll. The train which rotates theroll D comprises the main wheel E on the shaft 6, having the customaryconnection by means of a barrel E with an actuating-spring E shownwithin the barrel and connected at its inner coil to the shaft 6, whichis the winding-shaft, the pinion E on the shaft e gear E on the sameshaft, pinion E on the shaft 6 gear E on the same shaft, the gear Emounted on the lever E, which is fulcrumed 011 the shaft 6 the gear E onthe shaft c, the gear E on the shaft 6 and the gear E on the shaft ewhich carries the winding-roll D. On the shaft 6 is a gear E whichmeshes with the pinion E on the shaft 6 on which there is a gear Emeshing with the pinion E on the shaft 6 which is the shaft of thegovernor, hereinafter described. In rewinding, the portion of the trainabove described to and including the gear E on the lever E cooperateswith the re winding-train. Said lever is adapted to be rocked on a shaft6 to carry the gear E out of mesh with the gear and thereby said gearismeshed with the gear E, which meshes with and drives the gear E", whichmeshes with and drives the gear E, which meshes with the pinion E on theshaft c of the reWinding-roll D. The wheels E, E, E, and E, having nofunc tion except in rewinding, constitute the rewinding -train asdistinguished from the winding-train. The winding-up devices comprise ashaftf, on which is a pinion F,

which meshes with the main winding-wheel F, which is rigid with the mainspring-shaft 6 outside the right-hand plate of the frame C. The shaft fpasses through the noiseless lockingclutch G, which has an arm G, by

f, and thence to means of which it is mounted rigidly on theframe-plate, and has a cap-plate G between which and the clutch proper,G, and within the chamber of the clutch a circular collar 1 is securedfast to the shaft f. The chamber of the clutch has a plurality (asillustrated, three) of spiral recesses g g g, and within said recessesand between the peripheral wall of the chamber and the periphery of thecollar F are lodged balls G2 G G whose diameter is greater than theleast and less than the greatest width of the space between the collarand the wall of the chamber. The springs G G3 G reacting against theshoulders of the spiral recesses, tend to hold the balls toward thenarrower ends of the recesses, respectively, and the rotation of theshaft f in the direction in which it is rotated to wind the spring tendsby frictional engagement of the collar F to roll the balls back towardthe wider ends of the respective recesses; but any rotation of saidshaft in the opposite direction tends to wedge the balls in recesses,and thereby locks the shaft against rotation in such direction. Theshal'tf is divided intermediate the clutch G and a bearing provided forsaid shaft in the bracket II, the two parts being engaged by afriction-joint, (shown in Fig. 8,) the outer part (indicated by theletterf) having pinned fast to its inner end the disk or cross-head Fwhile the inner part of the shaftf has pinned fast to it a disk F A ringF is loosely mounted on the hub of the disk F and extends beyond theperiphery of said disk and is connected by bolts F F with the disk Fsaid bolts being made fast in the ring F", but extending loosely throughthe disk F and springs F being interposed between said disk and theheads of the bolts, respectively, such springs tending to draw the ringtoward the disk, and thereby to bring the disk F into contact with suchpressure as the springs afford at one side with the disk F and at theother side with the ring F The disk F may have both surfaces providedwith suitable friction covering, (indicated a-tf andf'fl) wherebyrotation of the portion f of said shaft is communicated to the remainderof the shaft the winding-up mechanism. On said portion f of the shaft fbeyond the bracket H are two clutches J J, similar to the clutch G,except that the arms J J of said cl utches, instead of being mountedrigidly on a frame or other support, are connected by links K and L tolevers K an d L", respectively, said levers being fulcrumed at 7; and Z,respectively, on yielding supports, which, as illustrated, are shortspiral springs M M, which are supported at their upper ends by anyconvenient part of the cabinet-work of the organ, as by the transversebar a, said levers at their forward ends being pivotally connected tothe straps B pertaining to the bellows and connected to the pedals,respectively.

XVhen the pedals are operated to operate the bellows, the levers K and Lare oscillated 'of the levers and the yielding upon their respectivefulcrums and in turn, through the links K and L, respectively, operatethe clutches J J, the down motion of the pedals causing the clutches toengage and retate the shaft f, and so long as the resistance to itsrotation caused by the tension of the spring is not too great toovercome the friction between the disks F and F such rotation rotatesthe shaft 1" and winds up the spring. When the spring is fully wound orwound to such tension as the friction between the disks F and F permits,further action of the pedals causes slipping between said disks untilthe spring becomes sufficiently slackened by operating the train to bewound by the amount of power transmitted through the friction device.The same rcsultviz., cessation of the operation of the windingupdevices, without regard to the slipping of the friction-disks upon eachother-may be attained by means of the yielding fulcrum, which the leversK and L obtain on the ends of the springs M-that is to say, when thespring is wound tight, further action of the bellows operating upon thelevers K and L being resisted at the connection of said levers to thelinks K and L, respectively, said points of connection become theoperative fulcrums fulcrums obtained on the ends of the springs move asthe pedals are operatet When the organ is to be operated without the useof winding mechanism, which would be the case whenever it is played byhand and the automatic playing devices are out of use, the power whichwould be necessary to wind up the train and keep it wound or to operatethe pedals against the friction of the friction-disks F and F or againstthe tension of the springs M and M is saved by taking advantage of theconstruction illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7, which show releasable jointsin the levers K and L at their fulcrums, respectively, said levers beingmade each in two pieces united at such a joint whereat the two partsterminate in disks X and Y, respectively, having serrated faces adaptedto engage, the two parts being connected together by a bolt Z, and ashort spiral spring lodged in a cavity X in one of the disks tending tohold serrated faces out of engagement, but to be compressed bytightening the bolt to draw said faces into engagement, and thereby lockthe two parts of the lever rigidly. The bolts Z have stems which extendout through the cabinet-work of the organ and are provided with handlesat their outer ends, so that the operator may at will release the jointsthus formed in the levers, whereby the forward portion of the leversconnected to the pedalstraps alone is actuated by the action of thepedals, all the remainder of the levers and the mechanism beinginactive.

The governor-shaft 6 extends beyond the frame G at the right hand andobtains a further bearing in the outer end of the bracket U", betweenwhich bearing and the righthand plate of the frame 0 the centrifugal"tion-disk Q rigid with the collar Q.

governing device is mounted on the shaft. Said device consists of thecollar Q, fast on the shaft, the collar Q, loose on the shaft, thesprings Q Q con nectin g said collars and connecting the centrifugalballs Q and a fric- The pinion E is loose on the shaft a, but isconnected thereto by means of the collar E fast on the shaft, and aspring e coiled about the shaft and attached one end to the collar andthe other end to the pinion. This yielding connection adapts the trainto operate promptly, the spring serving as a storage of power forovercoming the inertia of the governor and starting the latter after thetrain has started and coiled the spring E somewhat. For controlling thegovernor there, is provided a stop R, protruding from the orgall-frontand connected at the rear end to one arm of the bell-crank lever R Rwhose arm is connected by a link R to the horizontal arm R of thebell-crank lever R R which is fulcrumed on the frame and has rigid withit, protruding to the right from its depending arm R a stem R, whichextends past the plane of the disk Q and is then bent to extend thefinger R behind the disk Q that is, between the same and the plane ofthe collar Q of the governorand is provided with a friction-button radapted to contact the rear-that is, the right-hand-surface of the diskA spring R on a stud r reacts against the bell-crank lever R R to holdthe button forwardthat is, to the left-against the disk. The friction ofthe stop R in the organ-front is too great to be overcome by the springR so that, notwithstanding said spring, when the stop is withdrawn thebutton is held away from the disk, the distance cor responding to thatto which the stop is withdrawn. It will be understood that the greaterthe speed of the winding-train to which the governor is connected thefarther the disk Q will be drawn toward the head of the bracket 0 andthat the position at which the button 1" stands, determining thedistance to which the disk can thus be drawn by the centrifugal actionof the governor balls, determines the speed at which the train can run,not because the mere restraining of the movement of the disk along theshaft c has any tendency to check the speed,but because,bein grestrained by a device which imposes friction upon it, the speed of thegovernor is reduced by the friction, and the friction is in turn reducedby the reduction of pressure as the centrifugal force of the ballsdiminishes, causing the disk to run just barely in contact with thebutton and to increase or diminish its speed as the button is moved inone direction or the other. For the purpose of operating the lever E toshift the power from the winding to the rewinding train, or vice versa,I provide a stop S at the organ-front connected at the rear end to abell-crank lever S S whose arm S is connected by a link S to a lever Sfulcrumed on the same stud S on which the lever R R is fulcrumed. Fromthis lever S a link S extends to the lever E The lever S is behind thelever R R and the stud s projecting forward from the lever S overhangsthe arm of the lever R R Both the links R and S are suitably guided andrestrained by a lock S mounted on the forward side of the frame 0. lVhenthe stop S is pulled out, the linked end of the lever S is drawn down,and the pin 8 in that movement draws down the arm R of the lever B R andthrusts the button *r away from the disk Q to the remote limit of themovement provided for by the construction. This move ment of the stop Sis the one which throws the gear-wheel E out of connection with thewinding-train and into connection with the rewinding-train, and, as willbe seen, the remote position of the governor r permits the governor torun without restraint during the rewinding action. The rewinding-train,as will be observed, is constructed to give the roll D much higher speedthan the roll D would receive from the same speed of the governor-shaft,and the removal of all restraint from the governor therefore causes there winding to occur very rapidly, even as compared with the most rapidaction of the winding process. The roll D, however, must be restrainedduring the unwinding therefrom of the perforated sheet or equivalentdevice which is wound onto the roll D in order that the sheet may bekept taut and wound closely that is, without slack on the roll D. Thisis eifected by a brake-spring T, attached to one of the posts 0 at theupper rear corner of the frame 0 and constructed to extend above andbear upon the hub of the pinion E on the shaft of the rewinding-roll D.An adjusting-screw T, set through a block T rigid with the post C servesto regulate the tension of the spring T, adapting it to restraintherotation of the rewinding-roll to any desired extent. The lever E hasa finger E, which extends up under the springT, and when said lever E ispulled downward by the stop S the finger E swinging outward lifts thespring T off the hub of the pinion E and leaves the rewinding-trainentirely free from restraint during the winding movement.

When the governor is entirely free from the restraint of the regulatingdevice, as described, during the rewinding, the centrifugal balls, beingspread to the utmost limit, adapt the governor to operate simply as afiy-wheel, storing energy and maintaining the momentum of themotor-actuated train,- so that when the proper stop is actuated torestore said train to engagement with the winding-train its momentumbecomes effective to cause the winding to start instantly instead ofvery slowly, as would be the case were it not for the acquired momentumand the governor acting as a fly-wheel.

For the purpose of oiling the important bearings of the winding andrewinding trains, which are inaccessible except at great incontoo ivenience when the mechanism is in place in the organ, I provide a systemof oil-ducts of so small diameter that they operate practically ascapillary ducts to conduct oil to the several hearings. These ducts arerepresented in Figs. 3 and it, the system extending from a commontrunk-duct U, which leads to a point at the top of the organ-case at thevent, where it may be injected, branching above the frame G into twolimbs U and U extending, respectively, toward the right and left platesof the frame C, and each of said branches has subbranches it to u, &c.,leading to such other bearings as require oiling. This system of ductsis made of fine brass tubing, which can readily be fashioned for thepurpose and secured rigidly to the frame in proper position to deliverthe oil at all the bearings for which branches are provided.

I claim- 1. In a pedal-operated musical instrumen in combination withthe automatic playing device and the mechanism which operates it, amotor for such mechanism; winding-up devices for such motor; operatingconnections to the winding devices from the pedal; the pedal comprisinga lever having an elasticallyyielding fulcrum having a range of yieldingadapted to accommodate the entire pedal movement, whereby, when theresistance to winding exceeds the resistance of said yielding fulcrum,the lever ceases to transmit movement to the winding-up devices.

2. In a pedal-operated musical instrument, in combination with theautomatic playing device and the mechanism which operates it, a motorfor such mechanism; winding-up devices for such motor; operatingconnections to the winding-up devices from the pedal, such connectionscomprising a lever having at its fulcrum a joint adapted to permitrelative motion of the parts united at such joint in the plane of themovement which the lever receives from the pedal; and suitable means formaking the lever rigid or the reverse at such joint at will, whereby atwill the lever may be caused to transmit or not transmit from the pedalsmovement to the winding-up devices.

3. In a musical instrument, the combination with automatic devices whichcomprise a winding-roll and a rewinding-roll, trains connected with saidrolls respectively, a train having a motor to actuate it adapted to bethrown into driving connection with either the winding-roll train or therewinding-roll train at will, the winding-roll train being geared totransmit relatively slow movement to its roll, and the rewii'lding-trainbeing geared to transmit relatively fast movement to its roll, acentrifugalgovernorin the motoractuatcd train, regulating devices forsuch governor, a stop and connections therefrom the rewinding-roll,operating-trains for said 1 adapted to be operated to relieve thegovernor from regulation at will said governor remaining in themotor-actuated train during rewinding, whereby such governor operates asa fly-wheel to maintain the momentum of the motor-actuated train withoutrestraining the speed during rewinding.

i. In combination with the winding-roll and the rewin din g-roll, trainsconnected with said rolls respectivelyand a train having a motor toactuate it adapted to be thrown into drivtrain or the rewinding-rolltrain at will, a governor in said motor-train, a stop, and connectionstherefrom to regulate the governor,

\ing connection with either the winding-roll a stop and connectionstherefrom to shift the motor-train connection, and connections betweenthe stops by which the shifting of the motor-train into therewinding-train relieves the governor of the controlling-stop mechanism.

In combination with the winding-roll and rolls respectively; amotor-train and means for connecting said motor-train with either ofsaid roll operating trains at will, a frictionbrake adapted to restrainthe rewinding-roll, and means for relieving the roll of said restraintconnected to and operated by the devices for shifting the motor-traininto connection with the rewinding-roll train; whereby therewinding-roll is not restrained during rewinding.

6. In combination with a windingroli and a rewinding-roll and trainswhich operate said rolls respectively, and means for connecting it atwill with either of said roll-operating trains; a governor in saidmotortrain; a stop and mechanism controlled thereby for operating suchgovernor; a stop and mechanism operated thereby for shifting themotortrain into connection with the roll-operating connectionsrespectively; a brake which is adapted to restrain the rewinding-roll;connections between the stop mechan1isms,whereby the governor mechanismis operated to relieve the governorof control when the motortrain-shiftstop is operated to connect the motor-train with the rewinding-roll, andmeans connected to and operated by said last-mentioned stop mechanismfor lifting the brake from the rewinding-roll; whereby the 1notortrainand the rewinding-roll are relieved of restraint both of the governor and of the brake during the rewinding action.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand, in the presence of twowitnesses, at

Chicago, Illinois, this 22 l day of February, 1897.

MEIIYILIIE CLARK.

\Vitnesses:

CHAS. S. BURTON, JEAN ELLIOTT.

